Doctor of Philosophy / Over the few last decades, there has been a push to prepare more students for STEM careers to meet demands for a larger workforce and to broaden participation. Scholars, activists, and educators have identified that, despite these efforts to broaden participation in engineering, many groups remain underrepresented and marginalized in education. However, engineering education has given little attention to the impacts of place, or geography, on educational access particularly as it relates to academic preparation resources, educational pathways, and careers in engineering. My multi-method dissertation seeks to address this gap in the literature across three manuscripts. In the first manuscript, I examine possible influences on enrollment in postsecondary pathways for engineering, computer science, and engineering technology careers in Virginia. Using descriptive analysis and multilevel modeling techniques, I identified disproportionate enrollments in community college and four-year pathways across geographies, and identified possible individual-level and community-level characteristics that help shed light on the enrollment trends. In the second manuscript, I explore the pathways taken by rural STEM professionals from Southwest Virginia who continue to live and work in the region. By understanding their pathways, I identified various supports and barriers they faced as rural students and professionals, and the factors that influenced them to stay in the region. Finally, I present a conceptual model meant to provide a literature- and research-informed approach to how engineering education might consider doing work (i.e. outreach, engagement, applied research) in rural settings in a way that acknowledges place and context. Across these manuscripts, I aim to shed light on the intersection of rurality and STEM education. By focusing on concepts of place and geographical influences on education, I hope to provide a new lens for how inequities in STEM education might be further addressed while providing practical insights for structural and systemic changes related to engineering education efforts. Ultimately, through focusing on rurality, I hope to contribute to changing the narrative around what it means to be rural or to be from a rural place.

We present a new language feature, specified as an extension to Java. The feature is a form of dispatch, which includes and subsumes multimethods, but which is not as powerful as general predicate dispatch. It is, however, intended to be more practical and easier to use than the latter. The extension, dubbed OOMatch, allows method parameters to be specified as patterns, which are matched against the arguments to the method call. When matches occur, the method applies; if multiple methods apply, the method with the more specific pattern overrides the others. The pattern matching is very similar to that found in the "case" constructs of many functional languages, with an important difference: functional languages normally allow pattern matching over variant types (and other primitives such as tuples), while OOMatch allows pattern matching on Java ob jects. Indeed, the wider goal here is the study of the combination of functional and ob ject-oriented programming paradigms. Maintaining encapsulation while allowing pattern matching is of special importance. Class designers should have the control needed to prevent implementation details (such as private variables) from being exposed to clients of the class. We here present both an informal "tutorial" description of OOMatch, as well as a formal specification of the language, and a proof that the conditions specified guarantee run-time safety.

We present a new language feature, specified as an extension to Java. The feature is a form of dispatch, which includes and subsumes multimethods, but which is not as powerful as general predicate dispatch. It is, however, intended to be more practical and easier to use than the latter. The extension, dubbed OOMatch, allows method parameters to be specified as patterns, which are matched against the arguments to the method call. When matches occur, the method applies; if multiple methods apply, the method with the more specific pattern overrides the others. The pattern matching is very similar to that found in the "case" constructs of many functional languages, with an important difference: functional languages normally allow pattern matching over variant types (and other primitives such as tuples), while OOMatch allows pattern matching on Java ob jects. Indeed, the wider goal here is the study of the combination of functional and ob ject-oriented programming paradigms. Maintaining encapsulation while allowing pattern matching is of special importance. Class designers should have the control needed to prevent implementation details (such as private variables) from being exposed to clients of the class. We here present both an informal "tutorial" description of OOMatch, as well as a formal specification of the language, and a proof that the conditions specified guarantee run-time safety.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:38:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 IsisSL_DISSERT.pdf: 849712 bytes, checksum: 3292c946a295ab825e4bdace18364a27 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-09-06 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The population aging process increases the number of elderly people worldwide. In Brazil, a country of continental size, this process began in the 40s and happens with specific features in each of the different region s realities. This way, this thesis aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a elderly s quality of life (QOL) scale, the WHOQOL-old, in a population of the Northeast of Brazil. We sought to investigate the congruence between the content covered by the scale and the ones deemed as relevant by the participants. It aimed also study the validity evidences of the instrument s internal structure. To achieve the research objectives we adopted the design of multiple methods. The research was organized in two studies. For data collection, both studies used a sociodemographic questionnaire to obtain a profile of the participants and the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE), used as exclusion criterion. A number of 18 elderly residents of the cities of Natal-RN and Campina Grande-PB, mean age of 73.3 years (SD = 5.9) took part od the study, They were organized into three focal groups (FG) in witch they discussed about the concept of QOL, what enhance and what hinders QOL. For Study II, a quantitative approach, 335 elderly from Campina Grande responded scale WHOQOL-old. They are between 65 and 99 years (M = 74.17, SD = 6.5). The FG data were analyzed by categorical thematic content. For the data analysis of the WHOQOL-old scale were used exploratory factor analysis and calculation of the Akaike and Bayesian information criteria. The results of both studies were triangulated. According to the discussions in the FG, health and social participation have central roles in quality of life. Social participation is related to all the other QOL s influences raised. The participants indicated the relevance of religiosity and were divided about the importance of sexual activity. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) extracted a model of six factors. Two items (OLD_3 and OLD_9), not loaded on any factor and were excluded. The other items had factor loadings > 0.3. The response categories were reduced from five to three. After the scale changes, the empirical model showed better fit (-2loglikelihood = 8993.90, BIC and AIC = 9183.90 = 9546.24) than the theoretical model (-2loglikelihood = 18390.88, AIC = 18678.88 and BIC = 19228.11). Despite the best information criterion values, the RMESA remained above the ideal (0.06). We conclude that the WHOQOL-old presents psychometric parameters below the ideal when used with the Northeast population, but the improvements made the scale s use acceptable. The WHOQOL-old uses observable variables that matches with the participants' perceptions on quality of life. However, new strategies must be tested for a better sacale refinement / O envelhecimento populacional aumenta o n?mero de idosos em todo mundo. No Brasil, pa?s de tamanho continental, esse processo come?ou na d?cada de 40 e acontece com caracter?sticas espec?ficas em suas diferentes realidades. Dentro dessa perspectiva, a presente disserta??o teve o objetivo de avaliar as propriedades psicom?tricas da escala de avalia??o da qualidade de vida (QV) de idosos, WHOQOL-old, em uma popula??o de nordestinos. Buscou-se investigar a congru?ncia entre os conte?dos abordados pela escala e aqueles considerados relevantes pelos participantes; e estudar as evid?ncias de validade de estrutura interna do instrumento. Para atingir os objetivos da pesquisa foi adotado o desenho de m?todos m?ltiplos. A pesquisa foi organizada em dois estudos. Como instrumento de coleta de dados comum a ambos, foi utilizado question?rio sociodemogr?fico para tra?ar o perfil dos participantes e o Mini Exame do Estado Mental (MEEM), que serviu como crit?rio de exclus?o. O Estudo I, de abordagem qualitativa, contou com a participa??o de 18 idosos moradores das cidades de Natal-RN e Campina Grande-PB, m?dia de idade de 73,3 anos (DP = 5,9), divididos em tr?s grupos focais (GF) que discutiram o conceito de QV, o que ajuda e o que atrapalha a QV. Para o estudo II, de abordagem quantitativa, 335 idosos de Campina Grande, entre 65 e 99 anos (M = 74,17; DP = 6,5) responderam a escala WHOQOL-old. Os dados dos GF foram submetidos ? an?lise categorial tem?tica de conte?do; e para an?lise dos dados da escala WHOQOL-old foram utilizados an?lise fatorial explorat?ria e c?lculo dos crit?rios de informa??o de Akaike e Bayesiana. Os resultados dos dois estudos foram triangulados. De acordo com as discuss?es nos GF, sa?de e participa??o social t?m pap?is centrais na qualidade de vida. A ?ltima estabelece rela??o com todos os demais temas suscitados. Os participantes indicam a relev?ncia da religiosidade e ficam divididos sobre a import?ncia da atividade sexual. Analise fatorial explorat?ria (EFA) extraiu um modelo de seis fatores. Dois itens (OLD_3 e OLD_9), n?o carregaram em nenhum fator e foram exclu?dos. Os demais itens apresentaram carga fatorial >0,3. As categorias de resposta foram reduzidas de cinco para tr?s. Ap?s as mudan?as na escala, o modelo emp?rico apresentou melhor ajuste (- 2loglikelihood = 8993,90; AIC = 9183,90 e BIC = 9546,24) que o modelo te?rico (- 2loglikelihood = 18390,88; AIC = 18678,88 e BIC = 19228,11). Apesar dos melhores valores de crit?rio de informa??o, o RMESA permaneceu acima do ideal (0,06). Conclui-se que o WHOQOL-old apresenta par?metros psicom?tricos abaixo do ideal na popula??o nordestina, mas as melhorias o tornaram sua utiliza??o aceit?vel. O instrumento WHOQOL-old utiliza vari?veis observ?veis que condizem com a percep??o dos participantes sobre qualidade de vida. No entanto, novas estrat?gias merecem ser testadas para refinamento da escala

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:38:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CYNTHIAFML_TESE.pdf: 4260965 bytes, checksum: d530470ff44413f536252f34785ca556 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-12 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / This research aimed to evaluate the Family Health Strategy (FHS) in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, through its managers, professionals and users, having as its support the Theory of Belief and the Cognitive-Behavioral Theory. This is a multimethod research and is divided into three sub-studies. In the first study, nine managers answered to a semi-structured interview, to verify the knowledge and beliefs on SUS; the quantitative data were analyzed with descriptive statistics with the aid of SPSS software and the qualitative data were submitted to lexical analysis with support of ALCESTE software. In the second study, we have a descriptive correlational research in which the antecedent variables are related to working conditions in the family health units (FHUs) and to the professionals‟ profile; the corresponding variables refer to the evaluations of the FHS; a stratified probabilistic sample with 475 professionals, who answered to two scales, both consisting of three factors: Physical infrastructure, Material resources, and Treatment effectiveness, and data were analyzed using descriptive, bivariate and multivariate statistics, with the aid of SPSS. The third study is a descriptive correlational research in which the antecedent variables refer to the treatment in the FHUs and to the users‟ profile, and the corresponding variables refer to the evaluations of the FHS, with a stratified non-probabilistic sample with 390 users, who contributed to the construction of a new scale with a factor, effectiveness in treatment, analyzed through descriptive, bivariate and multivariate statistics, with the aid of SPSS. The results showed problems which start from management, under the shape of admission due to political indication and lack of knowledge on SUS and the FHS; they pass through the low tenure of professionals and insufficient professional; and they end up spreading all over the analyzed items: infrastructure of FHUs, material resources, professionals‟ training, accessibility and referral system. One concludes that, despite following an ideal model, the FHS is in need of changes with regard to the barriers to its operational reality / Esta pesquisa objetivou avaliar a ESF em Natal-RN, atrav?s de seus gestores, profissionais e usu?rios, embasada na Teoria das Cren?as e da Teoria Cognitivo-comportamental. Trata-se de uma proposta de multim?todos e encontra-se dividida em tr?s subestudos. No primeiro estudo, nove gestores responderam uma entrevista semiestruturada, para verificar o conhecimento e as cren?as sobre o SUS, sendo os dados quantitativos analisados com estat?stica descritiva com aux?lio do software SPSS e os dados qualitativos submetidos ? an?lise lexical com apoio do software ALCESTE. No segundo estudo, uma pesquisa descritiva correlacional na qual as vari?veis antecedentes referem-se ?s condi??es de trabalho nas Unidades de Sa?de da Fam?lia (USFs) e ao perfil dos profissionais e as vari?veis correspondentes referem-se ?s avalia??es da ESF; uma amostra probabil?stica estratificada com 475 profissionais, que responderam duas escalas, ambas compostas por tr?s fatores: Infraestrutura f?sica, Recursos materiais e Efici?ncia no atendimento, sendo os dados analisados por meio de estat?stica descritiva, bivariada e multivariada com aux?lio do SPSS. O terceiro estudo ? uma pesquisa descritiva correlacional na qual as vari?veis antecedentes referem-se ?s condi??es de atendimento nas USFs e ao perfil dos usu?rios, e as vari?veis correspondentes referem-se ?s avalia??es da ESF, com uma amostra n?o probabil?stica estratificada com 390 usu?rios, que contribu?ram para a constru??o de uma nova escala com um fator, efici?ncia no atendimento, analisado por meio estat?stica descritiva, bivariada e multivariada com aux?lio do SPSS. Os resultados mostraram problemas que come?am com a gest?o, sob a forma de admiss?o por indica??o pol?tica e falta de conhecimento sobre o SUS e a ESF; passam pela rotatividade e quantidade insuficiente de profissionais; e acabam disseminando-se por todos os itens analisados: infraestrutura e recursos materiais das USFs, capacita??o dos profissionais, acessibilidade e sistema de refer?ncia. Conclui-se que, apesar de seguir um modelo ideal, a ESF necessita de mudan?as em rela??o aos entraves de sua realidade operaciona

The intricate concepts of ad-hoc polymorphism and overloading permeate the field of programming languages despite their somewhat nebulous definitions. With the perspective afforded by the state of the art, object-oriented Fortress programming language, this thesis presents a contemporary account of ad-hoc polymorphism and overloading in theory and in practice. Common language constructs are reinterpreted with a new emphasis on overloading as a key facility. Furthermore, concrete problems with overloading in Fortress, encountered during the author's experience in the development of the language, are presented with an emphasis on the ad hoc nature of their solutions. / text